hi i had a child in february 2012 since then i have suffered with bad post natal depression and manage to get it under control with medication then i went on and had a child in october 2014 and was still felling ok since recently my partner started to suffer with depression which dragged me back down and now back to the beginning and has even gone to the doctor to up my dose on anti depressants and still isnt working. My maternity ends in april this year and dont think i could manage to go back to work, my partner works full time but if i dont go back to work we will struggle is their anything i can get help with like some kind of benefit.

4 Replies

It sounds as though you are having a hard time as a family. I don't know about benefits etc, sorry, but I do think you might think about seeing your GP again - to get signed off from returning to work for a time so at least that will take the pressure off. You might think about increasing your meds and asking to be referred for some therapy, preferably CBT to help you to cope since you need to return to work for financial reasons. Your depression MAY be post-natal, but do you have any idea what is triggering your partner's depression? Also I wonder whether you talked with anyone trained (therapist) last time you were depressed as often post-natal depression can be linked to your own early childhood experiences.

My partners is since having the new baby and it was a bad labour and a week later ended up in hospital with a cows milk allergy and had to watch him have drips and canulers n bloods it wasnt nice and i have just put my citalapram up to 30mg from 20mg couple weeks ago but the only thing is we cant afford childcare and my partner works days mon-friday so id need to work nights again but then i will hardly get sleep because id be comin home from work and looking afta my children but if i dont work we wont be able to afford itxx

Hi, you would have to contact the benefits people or citizens advice bureau to see if you can get any benefits but it does sound also like you are probably still suffering from the post natal depression and should seek out some more help for this. Hope this helps a little? Gemma